College Baseball: Zinsmeister won't stop until he reaches his dream

HATFIELD — Recent IUP grad Robbie Zinsmeister has already made a career choice.

He wants to continue what he’s been training and preparing for over his four years in college, and he wants to do it as long as possible.

Over the last four seasons Zinsmeister was one of the best baseball players ever to step onto a Crimson Hawks diamond.

When his collegiate career ended May 4, Zinsmeister was one of the school’s most productive offensive players, leading the program in games played (200) and career at-bats (693), while sitting second all-time in hits (231), runs (187), doubles (47), walks (87), total bases (371) and stolen bases (75).

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He was third all-time in RBIs (124) and triples (21) and fourth in homers (17).

Zinsmeister also landed in the program’s top 20 in career batting average (.333).

The leadoff man, shortstop and offensive catalyst in North Penn High’s run to a PIAA championship in 2009, Zinsmeister continued in that vein for IUP, playing both middle infield positions and even a little center field this season while helping the Hawks produce runs.

His career, he said, had only a few disappointments.

“I would have liked for our team to have done a little better over the last two years,” he said. “We didn’t make the (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) playoffs the last two seasons and would have liked that to happen.

“But I’m happy with my career.”

It was a career that some expected to conclude with Zinsmeister being selected in the recent Major League Baseball draft. But when he was not chosen, Zinsmeister did not choose to hang up his spikes.

“I was kind of hoping (getting drafted) would happen,” he said, “but I guess everything happens for a reason.”

So, on Wednesday of this past week Zinsmeister was on the road, driving to a tryout with the Washington Wild Things of the independent Frontier League.

Zinsmeister’s reluctance to join the “real world” is understandable, considering his development as a player over the past four seasons.

Recruited by IUP head coach Jeff Ditch, who first noticed him at the East-West American Legion showcase in Harrisburg, Zinsmeister did everything necessary to make himself better.

“The game is a lot faster at the college level,” he said. “Plus, you’re not getting those infield hits you used to get in high school and you’re not getting that 2-0 fastball you used to get.

“But the biggest difference is the speed of the game.”

To better compete, Zinsmeister got stronger and bigger, eventually adding 35 to 40 pounds to his frame.

“I got stronger and I picked up speed,” he said. “As fast as the game is, I had to get faster and I upped my time in the 40 (yard dash) by four-tenths of a second.

“There’s always a chance for you to get better, and there’s never a reason to be complacent.”

Along with his college seasons, Zinsmeister played all summer, spending the summer after his freshman season with the Quakertown Blazers of the Atlantic Coast Baseball League, the summer following his sophomore season in the Futures League in New England (with the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks) and the summer following his junior year in the Coastal Plain League, which featured teams based in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

“Playing in the summer definitely helped,” Zinsmeister said. “You’re facing a lot of Division One pitchers and seeing that high velocity.

While some questioned the quality of PSAC baseball, Zinsmeister said the level of competition was more than legitimate.

“We’re not the SEC or the ACC,” he said, “but I think we could compete with some Division One teams.”

While a handful of PSAC products were drafted recently, Zinsmeister was not among them.

But that’s not about to stop him from pursuing the dream.

Hence, Zinsmeister is willing to pack up his glove and bat and hit the road.

“My dream is to get to play pro ball, whether it’s independent or MLB,” Zinsmeister said. “I want to take it as far as I can, until they tell me to stop.”